September 1 - 15, 2016
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
Aquino, Purisima in P100-B
graft, smuggling case filed with
Ombudsman
Former
President
Benigno S. Aquino III and
Finance Secretary Cesar
Purisima are facing P100billion graft and smuggling
charges before the Office of
the Ombudsman (OMB) for
allegedly allowing for years
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum
Corporation (PSPC) to bring
in unleaded gasoline without
payment of excise and valueadded taxes.
The
complainants
said Shell falsely declared
its gasoline importations as
catalytic cracked gasoline
(CCG), light catalytic cracked
gasoline (LCCG), and later
as “alkylate,” a chemical
blending component in the
manufacture of gasoline
which is not subject to internal
revenue taxes.
The
taxes
are
collected by the Bureau of
Customs for the Bureau of
Internal Revenue.
The
15-page
complaint was filed jointly
by
former
Customs
Commissioner
Napoleon
Morales, former Batangas
Customs Collector Juan Tan,
and Lourdes Aclan, publisher
of Headlines News Today and
national executive secretary
of the Publishers Association
of the Philippines.
They
said
Shell
reclassified CCG and LCCG
as “alkylate” when then
Batangas customs collector
Tan demanded payment of
P7.3 billion in excise taxes for
imports of CCG and LCCG
for the years 2004 to 2009,
which demand was approved
by Morales.
Also included in the
complaint are Shell Chairman
Edgar Chua and several other
unidentified executives of the
oil company.
Aclan said that as
investigative reporter she
brought the case separately
to then President Aquino
and Purisima, but both did
nothing to compel Shell to
settle the back accounts
which now total more than
P100
billion,
including
interests and surcharges.
As
the
proper
government officials, Morales
said Aquino and Purisima
should have demanded from
Shell the payment of the
taxes, or caused seizure of the
oil products if the demand is
ignored.
Morales noted that
the smuggling case filed
in 2011 against PSPC
under the customs bureau
Run-After-the-Smugglers
(RATS) campaign before the
Department of Justice for
misdeclaration of unleaded
gasoline has not yet been
resolved.
According to Morales,
when Shell elevated the case
to the Court of Tax Appeals
en banc, the latter decided in
favor of the government. (J.
Ramirez, MB)
OFWs exempted from paying
travel tax, POEA fees
MANILA, Philippines
– Overseas Filipino workers
(OFWs) returning to their
jobs or same employers
abroad are now exempted
from paying travel tax as
well as securing overseas
employment
certificate
(OEC) and paying Philippine
Overseas
Employment
Administration
(POEA)
processing fee.
In a newly approved
memorandum
circular,
the POEA said the new
policy was in line with the
government’s
efforts
to
streamline the processing of
OFWs’ documents.
In
a
related
development, the Department
of Labor and Employment
(DOLE)
said
Filipino
household service workers
(HSWs) and other OFWs
abroad could expect better
protection as the International
Labor Organization adopted
the
Fair
Recruitment
Principles and Operational
Guidelines during a Tripartite
Meeting of Experts in Geneva,
Switzerland last week.
According to the
POEA, Balik Manggagawa
(BM) or returning workers’
group has long been calling
on the government to
enhance the processing of
their OECs or exit clearance.
OFWs
returning
abroad are required to
secure OECs prior to their
departure.
POEA said workers
who would be going back
to the same employer could
register online to update their
personal and employment
data with the POEA.
Data submitted to the
POEA would be forwarded to
the Bureau of Immigration
to serve as reference of the
BI officer in validating the
exemption of BM members at
the time of their departure.
POEA said the BM
members would have to
present valid work visa or
employment contract so
they could be exempted from
paying terminal fee and travel
tax. (M. Jaymalin, PS)
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